


An Unexpected Guest

by SilverStone0707



Category: The Borrowers - All Media Types, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Cosmo the wolf - Freeform, Fluff, G/T, Gay Keith (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Injury, M/M, Stress, Trust, borrower au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-07-02 00:11:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15784986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverStone0707/pseuds/SilverStone0707
Summary: Lance is a borrower in a hectic household. Surviving is hard, but at least it was better than getting caught.Keith is just a normal college student. At least he was, until he discovers something, or someone, that makes his life a little less normal.





	1. Discovery

Lance hates living in this house. It’s hell to ever get resources. He often wonders why he had ever even decided to settle here. His rational mind always tells him to move out, but something holds him back. He isn’t sure exactly what, but he does know that he can just feel it.

Honestly, Shiro was okay. If only Shiro lived here, the house would be a dream come true. Shiro always sticks to his schedule. Wake up at seven, go to classes at ten, get home at five. The only exception to this is when he goes out, but he always warns Keith about it beforehand, so Lance can always find a way to work around it. For some reason, Shiro had also become a bit less attentive lately, leaving food out without realizing it. It didn’t bother Lance though, because it made his job easier, plus Shiro was a pretty good cook (not that he had ever tasted anyone else’s cooking before). Shiro was probably the best part of the house.

No, Lance’s problem is Keith. Keith is the exact opposite of Shiro. His schedule is never consistent, and he is totally unpredictable. Sure, Keith always goes to classes at a certain time, but that is the only stable thing about him. He also works a part time job, but his job always fluctuates time-wise. He never works the same hours two days in a row. Keith also stays up. Depending on when his shift ends, he goes to sleep at different times. On early nights he can go to sleep at eleven or twelve. On late nights he can go to sleep anywhere from three to seven in the morning. He often has late nights. This isn’t a problem for Keith, because his classes started at twelve, but it is a problem for Lance. Since Shiro wakes up at seven in the morning, Lance is unable to go borrowing on Keith’s very late nights. But that isn’t the worst part about Keith.

The worst part about Keith is his dog, Cosmo. Lance is pretty sure Cosmo’s breed is very, very closely related to wolves. From what he knows about wolves, they are expert hunters. Cosmo is an expert hunter. Lance always sees Cosmo sniffing right where he went borrowing the morning after he did. If Lance ever dared to leave the walls while Cosmo was out, he would immediately get noticed and probably demolished by him. Fortunately, Keith always puts Cosmo in his cage at night. Unfortunately, he only does so at night. That means that Lance is never be able to use the hours of the day when both humans are at classes to borrow. He can only borrow at night. Which means that a late night for Keith is a night with nothing to eat for Lance.

Yesterday had been one of those nights. And Lance was very close to running out of water. It was already four in the morning, and Keith was still typing away at his laptop. Lance is pretty desperate, so he decided that using this as a distraction would be good enough for him to go borrowing. What Lance hadn’t realized is that Keith had decided that he needed someone to cheer him on while he did his homework tonight. That someone was Cosmo. Lance only realizes this once he is on the counter looking out to see if something had been left behind, only to hear the pitter patter of Cosmo’s footsteps. It’s a sound he had always heard from under the floorboards, and had hoped to never hear from above.

As soon as Cosmo notices him, he barks. Loudly. And continuously. He’s so loud that Lance has to cover his ears, doubling over from the pain and noise. He doesn’t notice how the counter shakes under him until Keith is already in the room.

“Cosmo, what the hell! Shiro’s sleeping, you know better than thi-” Keith trails off, and Cosmo quiets down, staring up at him.

The room is dark. Lance is used to this, he’s only up during the night. Keith, apparently, is also used to this. When Lance finally glances up, Keith is staring right back at him.

“Oh my god,” Keith barely even whispers.

Lance feels the exact same way, but can’t find it in himself to voice it. He's always known how much bigger than him Keith was. He had seen him from afar a million times. But standing right in front of him is a very different experience. He is so absorbed in this fact that he doesn’t realize that a hand is coming towards him until it’s too late.

He really should’ve moved out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! This is my first ever work on here. I'm not sure how much time I'll have to work on this, but I'll try to keep updating! Feel free to comment ideas and criticisms, I need all the help I can get. I'm not much of a writer, but I think it's still worth a shot!


	2. Okay, what?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short encounter which just ends up leaving Keith very confused

Keith is swamped. He’s known this since he left class that afternoon, but he hadn’t been able to resist taking the catering job when he was called in. And now here he is, still typing at four in the morning. He shoves his face in his hands, groaning. After a minute of staying in that position, he sits up and glances at Cosmo. 

Keith had decided to keep Cosmo with him tonight. He was well behaved, so Keith figured one night wouldn’t hurt. Plus, he was good at helping him stay up.

Cosmo meets Keith’s eyes and tilts his head curiously. Keith can’t help but wonder how Cosmo manages to never be bored. There isn’t much a dog can do. If Keith were a dog, he’d probably always be bored. Or maybe Cosmo is always bored and because of that he never really looks bored. 

Keith is mid-thought when Cosmo suddenly bolts up and rushes out of the room. He doesn’t think much of it until he hears barking. Cosmo never barks. Especially not at night. Panicking, Keith rushes off of his bed and follows the sound.

Keith isn’t really sure what he was expecting. Maybe something had happened to Shiro. Maybe a robber had broken into their house. Anything, really. Anything but there being a 3-inch tall human on his counter. At first Keith thinks there’s nothing, and scolds Cosmo for being so loud in the middle of the night. He’s in the middle of doing so when he notices it. Shocked, he stares at it for a few seconds before muttering an ‘oh my god’. 

The poor thing looks even more surprised than Keith, and infinitely more terrified. Keith isn’t sure what to do, and before realizes it, his hand is reaching for it. It’s probably just human instinct to want to catch an animal smaller than you, especially when it’s an animal you’ve never seen before.

“Keith? Is something wrong?” A raspy voice questions from behind him.

“Shiro!” Snapped out of his trance, Keith whips around to face Shiro, purposefully blocking his view from, well, whatever that is. “Ah- no, I think Cosmo just saw something outside,” he lies.

Shiro eyes him suspiciously, then nods. “Alright, then I’m going back to sleep. Don’t stay up too late.”

“It’s too late for that,” Keith laughs, watching him resign back to his bedroom. As soon as the door closes he turns back around.

There’s nothing there. The counter is empty, as usual. Keith searches for a few seconds before sighing, figuring that he should get back to work. He coaxes Cosmo into his cage, not wanting to risk waking Shiro again. He gets back to his room and opens his laptop, readying to type again.

Maybe he was just really, really tired.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thank you all so much for the advice and all the nice things you commented last chapter! It really pushes me to keep going. I've also noticed that my chapters are actually really short, so I'll try to make them longer from chapters 3 and on.  
> But anyways, thanks for reading! Feel free to let me know your thoughts on the story so far. Peace out!


	3. Cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance gets ready to move out, and sees Hunk along the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! I'm so so so sorry about the unannounced hiatus, school started again and it's been a struggle so far. I've also started to work, and unfortunately writing is only something I'll do once in a while for fun. I'll try to continue updating regularly, but I make no promises. I hope the chapter is worth the wait!

Lance was angry. Initially he was terrified, but once the original panic had set in he had taken to anger instead. He had to move out. Of course he’d thought of it before, but now he had no choice. And Lance really doesn’t like doing things against his will.

So here he was, carrying a bag containing all the stuff he could fit with him, dragging himself across the house’s lawn. The early December air is frigid and reminds him that fall is quickly disappearing. At this time of the year, he’d usually be stocking up on warm items to get him through the winter, far away from freezing wilderness.

Before his departure to a new home, Lance decides to go pay Hunk one final visit. Hunk and his family are fellow borrowers, and live in a house two houses away from Keith and Shiro’s. Lance and Hunk have been best friends since childhood, and though they don’t see each other much anymore, Lance makes sure to visit him once in a while. Unfortunately, this new situation he’s been put him most likely means this’ll be the last time he’ll visit him.

Lance knows the route to Hunk’s home by heart at this point, including all the shortcuts. It only takes him about a half hour to get there, and soon he finds himself in Hunk’s room, telling him everything about his dilemma.

“Can you believe it?! The one night I decide to go out while he’s still awake that idiot leaves his dog out! I could’ve gotten away with it otherwise, I swear!”

“Listen, it sounds like things were kinda chaotic in that house anyways. Maybe this is good for you! You weren’t caught by him, so this could be an opportunity. It just sucks that we’ll probably not be able to see each other anymore,” Hunk rationalizes.

Lance turns and looks at his friend, and then sighs. “You have a point, but i just don’t think its fair. I’ve only been there for a year and I’ve already been seen.”

“Listen buddy, it happens. And you got out of there unscathed! In a week or two, he’ll probably think he was seeing things. Why don’t you stay here for a few days? It’ll be nice to bond for a bit before you leave. Plus, we never really have finished that game of Scavenger!” Hunk smiles.

“Alright, alright, a few days couldn’t hurt,” Lance gave in.

What neither of the two friends had realized at that time was that a few days could hurt.

“I sense snow,” Hunk’s mom announces when she gets back home. “I’m sorry to say, Lance, but you’ve gotta leave now or never.”

It had been a few days since Lance had decided to crash at Hunk’s house, and it had all been great up until that point. He and Hunk had used this ample time to revisit their childhood memories, playing all kinds of games and retelling all kinds of stories. But both of them knew Lance couldn’t stay all winter long. Hunk’s family already consisted of five people, and adding Lance to that list of mouths to feed would only increase their stress. Lance had suggested Hunk go with him, but Hunk’s loyalty to his family, especially his niece and nephew, was too great for him to leave.

Lance reluctantly says his goodbyes, and is once again off into the outside world. Lance plans on returning to the neighborhood where the rest of his family lives, so he can increase connections with them once more. A year ago Lance had decided to move much farther from home than he should have, being a teenager seeking independence. Borrowers usually stayed on the same street as their family, leaving them easily accessible in case anything happened, but Lance had not. He now regretted this decision, seeing as it would take a few days for him to walk there. He would have to find a place to camp out on the way, too.

Keith and Shiro’s house is in between Hunk’s house and Lance’s destination, and Lance is passing by it when it starts to snow. It had been cold before, but now it’s freezing.

“Damnit, damnit, damnit, damnit,” Lance curses under his breath as he feels his hands and feet start to go numb. Lance does not have the proper attire for this kind of weather, and now is paying for it. Snow is starting to build up on the ground, and before he knows knows it Lance is required to walk in a layer of it in order to get around.

It’s so cold he can barely stand it. His movements keep getting slower, and all feeling in his arms slowly slips away. Lance’s bag drops out of his hand without his consent, and he tries to pick it back up to no avail. He realizes that he’s screwed, and he should’ve just stayed at Hunk’s house instead of risking it all. He could’ve put in work to help support his family instead of just fleeing. He curses the fact that he’s in this situation in the first place, and that in the end it’s his fault he was seen.

He silently calls himself an idiot before his vision grows dark.


End file.
